Data Science Wages by Industry Group and State
An Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey Data, May 2022
Lyndsay Miles
April 02, 2024
| Group title | Mean adjusted annual wage ($US) | Total sampled |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only) | 140874.61 | 220 |
| Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing | 134104.38 | 470 |
| Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services | 133074.99 | 1180 |
| Oil and Gas Extraction | 125823.84 | 160 |
| Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation | 125153.70 | 90 |
| Water Transportation | 125153.70 | 90 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction | 122877.17 | 130 |
| Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services | 121425.76 | 2320 |
| Support Activities for Mining | 119155.20 | 80 |
| Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers | 118322.75 | 1900 |
| Health and Personal Care Retailers | 117759.38 | 120 |
| Broadcasting and Content Providers | 117529.05 | 1950 |
| Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing | 116579.95 | 300 |
| Nondepository Credit Intermediation | 114424.21 | 2040 |
| Other Nondepository Credit Intermediation | 111329.04 | 1090 |
| Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | 110263.41 | 8060 |
| Credit Intermediation and Related Activities | 109932.18 | 9530 |
| Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | 109448.10 | 1340 |
| Information | 108907.92 | 18920 |
| Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (5221 And 5223 only) | 107986.16 | 6510 |
| Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences | 107544.83 | 7370 |
| Software Publishers | 107474.43 | 5540 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | 107087.75 | 7760 |
| Rental and Leasing Services | 107037.84 | 60 |
| Publishing Industries | 106797.84 | 6640 |
| Chemical Manufacturing | 106035.97 | 860 |
| Other Insurance Related Activities | 105618.74 | 1700 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 105050.63 | 43260 |
| Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing | 104917.90 | 280 |
| Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities | 104883.21 | 150 |
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | 104652.38 | 19770 |
| Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing | 104610.47 | 350 |
| Engineering Services | 104477.90 | 3540 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | 104432.83 | 930 |
| Telecommunications | 104371.85 | 1960 |
| Direct Insurance (except Life, Health, and Medical) Carriers | 104101.63 | 2140 |
| Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers | 103636.26 | 200 |
| Retail Trade | 103323.93 | 1390 |
| Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories | 103070.80 | 90 |
| Finance and Insurance | 102526.03 | 24530 |
| Couriers and Messengers | 102479.73 | 180 |
| Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | 102397.27 | 220 |
| Insurance Carriers | 102068.20 | 7050 |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages | 101988.29 | 1160 |
| Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | 101986.74 | 5880 |
| Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing | 101315.24 | 1840 |
| Insurance Carriers and Related Activities | 100912.95 | 10580 |
| Personal and Laundry Services | 100126.32 | 40 |
| Manufacturing | 99858.29 | 6190 |
| Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities | 99744.60 | 3230 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods (4232, 4233, 4235, 4236, 4237, and 4239 only) | 99307.45 | 200 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 99007.75 | 390 |
| Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals | 98890.47 | 40 |
| Wholesale Trade | 98238.58 | 3940 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods | 98077.81 | 2320 |
| Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers | 98017.24 | 2000 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 97805.75 | 107840 |
| Machinery, Equipment, and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | 97325.81 | 90 |
| Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only) | 96744.13 | 80 |
| Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | 96607.18 | 490 |
| Employment Services | 96020.21 | 5470 |
| Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | 95802.07 | 4160 |
| Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services | 95467.02 | 1320 |
| Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | 93745.73 | 10430 |
| Machinery Manufacturing | 93384.40 | 190 |
| Other Miscellaneous Retailers | 93130.92 | 160 |
| Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 93102.72 | 2860 |
| All Other Ambulatory Health Care Services | 92311.73 | 190 |
| Construction | 92263.21 | 140 |
| Other Ambulatory Health Care Services | 92209.65 | 200 |
| Freight Transportation Arrangement | 91857.20 | 40 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 91752.39 | 9300 |
| Administrative and Support Services | 91629.96 | 9280 |
| Utilities | 90754.88 | 760 |
| Real Estate | 90442.37 | 460 |
| General Merchandise Retailers | 90383.45 | 120 |
| Newspaper Publishers | 90131.99 | 80 |
| Legal Services | 89244.87 | 510 |
| Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers | 86708.88 | 220 |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 86590.41 | 1010 |
| Hospitals | 84922.71 | 3420 |
| Temporary Help Services | 84889.04 | 3780 |
| Support Activities for Transportation | 84673.25 | 90 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 84435.17 | 3200 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4244 and 4248 only) | 84026.03 | 160 |
| Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution | 83171.10 | 220 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 83050.90 | 6480 |
| Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers | 82729.43 | 950 |
| Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media | 82693.28 | 40 |
| Business Support Services | 82296.38 | 850 |
| Ambulatory Health Care Services | 81561.66 | 1670 |
| Outpatient Care Centers | 81315.85 | 410 |
| Social Advocacy Organizations | 80292.80 | 100 |
| Grantmaking and Giving Services | 80049.80 | 150 |
| Food Manufacturing | 79904.90 | 90 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | 79257.42 | 2600 |
| Educational Services | 79173.03 | 9020 |
| Junior Colleges | 78934.65 | 80 |
| Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations | 77854.83 | 280 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 77387.65 | 1490 |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 77053.08 | 180 |
| Home Health Care Services | 77019.67 | 40 |
| Office Administrative Services | 76919.21 | 890 |
| Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations | 76688.96 | 1310 |
| Motion Picture and Video Industries | 73701.90 | 520 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 73444.65 | 180 |
| Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries | 73278.71 | 550 |
| Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation) | 73034.79 | 760 |
| Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding state and local schools and hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OES Designation) | 72936.44 | 4980 |
| State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation) | 72284.27 | 1630 |
| Motor Vehicle and Motor Vehicle Parts and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | 71093.88 | 120 |
| Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing | 71091.10 | 140 |
| Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries | 70427.26 | 90 |
| Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions | 69909.84 | 80 |
| Testing Laboratories and Services | 69879.93 | 280 |
| Elementary and Secondary Schools | 68451.01 | 210 |
| Offices of Physicians | 67465.37 | 270 |
| Individual and Family Services | 66765.48 | 240 |
| Plastics Product Manufacturing | 65499.32 | 90 |
| Educational Support Services | 65401.75 | 120 |
| Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing | 65095.32 | 100 |
| Spectator Sports | 62382.20 | 50 |
| Social Assistance | 61382.64 | 400 |
| Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services | 60941.20 | 90 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation Services | 57028.86 | 40 |
| Food and Beverage Retailers | 55414.72 | 70 |
| Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only) | 55414.72 | 70 |
| Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations | 55066.48 | 60 |
| Warehousing and Storage | 51884.30 | 600 |
| Furniture, Home Furnishings, Electronics, and Appliance Retailers | 48738.55 | 70 |
| Furniture and Home Furnishings Retailers | 48627.20 | 70 |
Data
I used the most recent data tables provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Research estimates by state and industry/all sectors). This data is derived from sample surveys, which are subject to sampling and non-sampling error. To take into consideration variations in cost of living from state to state, I adjusted salary values using the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) cost of living estimates for 2023. According to their website, MERIC arrives an the cost of living index by averaging the indices of cities and metropolitan areas in a state.
To conduct this analysis, I cleaned and joined these two data sets and filtered to only include observations where the occupational title is “Data Scientists”. I used the following variables:
State name
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) title for the given industry
Standard Occupational Classification title or OEWS specific title for the occupation
Mean annual wage
Estimated total employed rounded to the nearest 10 (excludes self-employed).
I then calculated the mean adjusted annual wage by creating a new variable using this formula:
\(adjusted salary = (mean Annual Salary(1 + 1-cost Of Living Index/100))\)
Conclusions
The largest portion of data scientists employed and sampled in the BLS survey as employed in May 2022 (107,840) worked in professional, scientific, and technical services.
Those with the largest incomes work in, e.g., Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only), Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing, and Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives and Other Information Services. The mean adjusted annual wages for those employed in these sectors is $133,075 to $140,875.
Four states score highly in terms of employing high numbers of data scientists and paying the high average salaries: California, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia.
Hawaii and Montana employed the fewest data scientists Annual adjusted mean wages for data scientists were lowest in Montana and Mississippi.
Limitations
The salary data used is from May 2022, and more recent data would be beneficial.
For brevity, I chose to focus on mean adjusted annual income, but looking at wage ranges would be meaningful as well.
There are many other job titles that data scientists work under. This analysis only captures wages and number employed and surveyed with the title “data scientists”.
This does not include data from all 50 states; only observations from 46 states were available in the survey.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023, April 27). Tables created by BLS. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved March 21, 2024 from https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.
Karol Łukaszczyk. (June 2023). Cost of living in State in USA - MERIC (adapted from Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s Cost of Living Data Series), Version 1. Retrieved March 21, 2024 from https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/lukkardata/cost-of-living-missouri-economic-research.
Link to the code for this analysis: https://github.com/LyndsayM/salaries